Giannis Antetokounmpo sent shockwaves through the media with his post game comments the other day.
After his Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, a reporter asked him bluntly, “Is this season a failure?”
Visibly shaken, Giannis sighed, rubbed his head before composing himself and going off on a response for the ages. In his impassioned reaction, he argued that there is no failure in sports, and that it’s all a part of the journey to achieve excellence.
I think by showing his frustration, it’s clear the season was a failure. He is after all, arguably the best player in the NBA and his Bucks are recent champions who marched through the season and claimed a number one seed. The expectations were clearly to win a championship, and they failed to do that.
However, it’s not a failure, full stop.
The interesting bit in sports is how athletes respond to seasons where they come up short. Some hide and disappear. They duck the smoke. They make excuses.
Then there are those who turn failures into pure motivation. Those who hate to lose with every fiber in their being. And it doesn’t just stop there. The most elite competitors internalize their failures and come up with an action plan to come back stronger.
Take rookie Kobe Bryant, who famously shot multiple airballs down the stretch of the Lakers playoff game against the Utah Jazz. What was Kobe’s response? He literally called up a high school gym and asked to have it open when his plane arrived, at 2 in the morning. He took no down time to process his failure. He immediately continued his journey. He was compelled to figure out how to make sure that what just happened would never happen again. Kobe failed on that one night, but he also set signposts in the ground that pointed him towards his next success.
Or take Michael Jordan, who was bullied and bodied by the Detroit Pistons in the late 80s. His response? To hit the weight room, try new training tactics and build his body and mind to conquer the beast next time. As history shows, he achieved success in that mission.
Failure is not the end of the story. Unless you let it be. Failure makes some competitors get smaller. Others let failure turn them into a monster.
We know Giannis has a strong work ethic and a strong mentality. He looks up to the fierce competitors who came before him. He’s a student of the game. While he is dismissing the idea that this season was a failure, the story doesn’t end here. My money is on Giannis turning into even more of a problem when we see him next season. He’s committed to the journey and the process of trying to achieve excellence. He won’t disappear on us after this disappointing end to the season. You can already see the wheels turning. He’s not satisfied. And we know based on how crazy his career has developed, he’s about to do something about it.
This is not a full stop failure. This is dot dot dot, to be continued energy.
Giannis’ post game press conference will go down with similar moments from Kobe and others. It’s possible that we’ll see this as a turning point in his career. He was already a legend, but moments like this can spark new trajectories. At one point, after winning three titles alongside Shaq, Kobe was already a myth. After he experienced some down seasons going solo, and even a tough Finals loss, a new Kobe started to forge himself.
Giannis is on a similar path to immortality. This is a temporary setback on the path to something greater.
Giannis has a lot of basketball left to give. And with additional fire, we may end up seeing a player with more depth, more passion and able to will his team to even greater heights. As a fan of the game, it’s a bummer to see Giannis exit the playoffs early. But I’m excited to follow what his response will be. Giannis’ narrative just got even more intriguing.